Our strong system of European alliances, built during the 20th century, did not happen serendipitously, says Kenneth Weisbrode; it was carefully constructed and cemented by a network of diplomats and politicians, who imagined, built, and sustained a vision of America and Europe as parts of a single cooperative transatlantic community. Weisbrode reveals—warts and all—the insider's story of such well-known figures as Dean Acheson, W. Averell Harriman, and Henry Kissinger, explaining how and why the State Department's Bureau of European Affairs (EUR) rose to become the U.S. government's preeminent foreign policy office.

"From World War I to the Cold War, the Bureau of European Affairs played a crucial part in bridging the Atlantic, sometimes leaning against the inclinations of the presidents and secretaries it supposedly served, always ensuring that Europe remained central to American grand strategy. Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, Weisbrode's book not only rescues four generations of diplomats from the condescension of posterity; it also delineates the crucial role of the State Department bureaucracy in shaping American foreign policy."—Niall Ferguson